Question about Firewalls

[deletetacount123]

I own a Firewall (D-Link) box... it sits next to my high speed modem box... but I have noticed my Firewall once in awhile causes me to lose connection or not being able to connect at all, in order to fix this, I have to Unplug it then replug it in.
I am wondering if theres anything I can do to make it stop causing me to lose connection. Have thought of just taking it out completely but was told Firewalls are good to have. (I do have one that came with my Windows XP too.)

Would it be safe to disconnect the firewall and just use the one my computer was built with or is there something I can do with the D-Link to make it stop disconnecting me? Is there a better firewall box I should be using?

Any advice would be great thanks,

Tasha

[Long Duck Dong]

if you are running windows xp with a d- link box.... then there is not much you can do

i live in new zealand and our main isp is called xtra...they issued the standard d-link modem for broadband users.... and I was told by a computer tech, that xtra knew that xp and d-link clash at times... its a windows xp setting that causes it

zone alarm is good as a main firewall, but the windows xp firewall is about as good as wet toliet paper for a front door

[pete333]

My opinion is that both the windows firewall and a hardware firewall are the best solution. You may want to take a look at Netgear or Linksys, both are very good solutions.

In order to give you an accurate answer, I would need to know if it is a desktop connected via wire to the firewall, or if it is a wireless connection. They are two very different things.

If it is a wired connection, then it should not have anything to do with what kind of computer is attached to it it. The computer and the firewall do not interact directly with each other. Basically, your computer throws language down onto the network which is a standard language that the firewalls sees and simply passes along. If there is any direct communication with the firewall, it would only be configuration software which should still not be an issue.

If it is a wireless connection, then things get much more complicated since you have to make sure that you computer can communicate with the firewall via the wireless connection, which means you have to make sure that there is no interference, that they are both speaking the same language, and that the same security is set up on the firewall and the PC.

If it is a wireless thing, i would say try getting a different firewall, like netgear or linksys. You should be able to get one anywhere in the US for around $50, you can get one more expensive with more features so it depends on what you need/want.

As for the question of hardware firewall vs. software firewall. There is no replacement for a hardware firewall. The reason they are more effective than software firewalls is because external (internet) users never see your computer directly, they only see the firewall. With a software solution, they see your pc directly. Therefore, if there is a bug with your software firewall that allows external access, you are in trouble, where as if there is a bug with a hardware firewall, only the firewall would be in trouble.

Anyway, just my two cents. Get another firewall and see if that works.

[deletetacount123]

Hi Guys, thanks for the quick replies :-)

My firewall is wired to my computer but it can also be set to act as an wireless as well (Its a D-Link brand) which Im not using for wireless but just firewall.

Maybe that wasn't the best choice of firewall to get?? My parents have the same brand and it caused them all sorts of trouble (caused the modem to disconnect and like me, they have a high speed internet box) They did something with it to make it work but problem is, my dad doesn't remember what he did lol So thats why Im trying to figure out what to do :-)

I might try another brand that doesn't have wireless attached to it. Maybe thats the issue even tho mine isn't set to use the wireless.

It can be so annoying when it causes the internet to lose connection when Im in the middle of posting/chatting/browsing/emailing. D-Link firewall seems to put 169 in the IP address which shouldn't do that and when that happens, it causes the modem to quit working the only way I found out to fix it so far is to unplug both modem box and firewall box then replugging them back in but theres no telling when it'll happen again.

So Im going to look at the other firewall boxes :-) Thanks for the advice :-)

Tasha